To give further impetus to the regional aerial connectivity, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, SP Singh Baghel, along with Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Rajiv Bansal virtually flagged off the first direct flight on Agra (Uttar Pradesh) – Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) route under the Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme of the Government of India.
Nand Gopal Gupta, Cabinet Minister, Civil Aviation, Govt of Uttar Pradesh, Udaybhan Singh, Minister of State for MSME, Export Promotion, Textile & Handloom, Resham Udyog, khadi &Gramodhyog, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, GS Dharmesh, Minister of State for Social Welfare, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, Hardwar Dubey, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, also graced the event virtually from the Agra airport.
Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, along with other senior officials of the MoCA & AAI were also present at the ceremony held at MoCA.
Scindia said, “I congratulate the people of Agra for the direct connectivity with Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. Both the cities are a perfect blend of possessing immense historic, economic & tourism potential. Agra & Lucknow are not only significant for Uttar Pradesh, but also for the entire world, for various reasons. With new flights, the time taken of 4-hour travel between the two cities has now been reduced to just 1 hour flight. I am also delighted to announce additional flights from Kanpur & Lucknow in the coming months. I assure the people of Uttar Pradesh that these are just initial steps for strengthening of aerial connectivity of the state, we are committed to do much more under the UDAN – Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik Scheme launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Under the initiative, we are establishing aerial connectivity between cities with metros, and then bolstering the interstate connectivity.”
Agra Airport, Uttar Pradesh is a Civil Enclave owned by the Indian Air Force and operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Lucknow has become the third city connected with Agra via direct flights after Ahmedabad & Bangalore. The airline M/S Indigo airlines was awarded the Agra – Lucknow route under the UDAN 3.0. The airline will deploy its ATR 72 aircraft on the route.
Till date, 371 routes and 60 airports (including 5 heliports and 2 water aerodromes) have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme.
